Apparatus for processing cheese

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to apparatus for processing cuttings and trimmings of cheese to reconsolidate it.

United States Patent 1 15] 3,727,33 Ross 1 Apr. 17, 1973 APPARATUS FORPROCESSING 2,572,833 10/1951 Balzarini ..31/14 X CHE E 3,111,714 11/1963Branscum ..18/l4 [75] Inventor: Joseph H. Ross, Hayward, Calif. 1( ggt-gi e [73] Assignee: Lucky Stores, Inc., San Leandro, arp

Calif.

[22] Filed: 1970 Primary ExaminerHugh R. Chamblee [21] Appl No; 14,556Attorney-Gregg & Hendricson 52 us. c1 ..31/s.9, 31/46 [51] Int. Cl...A01j 25/00 58 Field of Search ..31/8, 10, 14, 7, 46, 89; [571 ABSTRACT18/12 55 The invention relates to apparatus for processing References.Cited cuttings and trimmings of cheese to reconsolidate it.

UNITED STATES PATENTS D 3,562,910 2/1971 Runge et a1 ..31/46 5 Clains, 4Drawing Figures PATENTED APR 1 Y 191% 3'. 727, 308

SHEET 1 [IF 2 1 INVENTOR L JOSEPH H. R088 ATTORNEYS PATENTED APR I 7I973 SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTORQ ,JOSEPH H. ROSS ATTORNEYS APPARATUS FORPROCESSING CHEESE This invention relates to apparatus for processingcheese, more particularly for processing scraps of cheese resulting fromcutting bulk cheese to produce smaller, uniform blocks of cheese.

In the production of cheese for retail distribution it is customary toprovide the cheese in bulk form, for example, in 40 to 55 pound'blocksand to out these large blocks into smaller blocks, e.g., 1 pound blocks,which are more suitable for sale at retail in grocery markets and thelike. In so doing a considerable quantity of cheese is produced in theform of thin slices and small bits and pieces due to the fact that thebulk cheese cannot be cut uniformly into smaller blocks without leavingsuch slices, bits and pieces of cheese. These thin slices, bits andpieces of cheese left over from the cutting of the bulk cheese intosmaller units will be referred to hereinafter as cheese trimmings.

Cheese trimmings heretofore have represented a substantial waste. Thetrimmings cannot, as a practical matter, be sold at retail in grocerymarkets. Heretofore cheese trimmings have been sold in bulk toprocessors such as pizza makers, at a greatly reduced price. Ideallycheese trimmings should be reconstituted into solid blocks similar incross section to the original bulk cheese in consistency, but equipmentand procedures available heretofore for this purpose have been expensiveand time consuming. For example, cheese trimmings have been placed in amold and rammed to form a solid block of cheese but such procedure hasbeen time consuming and expensive and has not produced a product havinga uniform, solid, void-free consistency. v

It is an object of the present invention to provide improvements in theprocessing of cheese trimmings and the like.

It is a further object of the invention to provide apparatus which willreceive cheese trimmings at an input point and will rapidly andcontinuously consolidate these trimmings into a solid body of cheeseidentical or substantially identical in cross section to the originalbulk cheese from which the trimmings come and which can then be packagedand marketed in the same manner as small units of cheese cut from 'bulkcheese.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a process for quicklyand economically reconstituting cheese trimmings into a solid cheeseconsistency which, when cut with a knife, has an appearance identical orsubstantially identical with that of the original bulk cheese from whichthe cheese trimmings come.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from theensuing description and the appended claims.

One form of the invention is illustrated by way of example in theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a complete apparatus including agrinder, the mold element of the present invention, a conveyor and acutting instrument, such view also showing the finished, packagedproduct of the apparatus of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a view in front elevation of the machine of FIG. -1 as seen atthe outlet (mold element) end, such view being partly broken away toshow the perforated plate through which cheese trimmings are extruded.FIG. 2 omits most of the grinder to the rear of the mold element.

FIG. 3 is a vertical midsectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1but on a larger scale and showing details of internal construction ofthe grinder and the mold element.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view taken similarly to that of FIG. 3 but on astill larger scale showing in detail the internal lining, the outerwrapping and the heating element employed with the mold element of theinvention.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1 theapparatus is generally designated as 10 and it comprises a conventionalhelical grinder 11, a mold element 12, a conveyor element 13 and acutter l4 and it also shows the end product in packaged condition at 15.Grinder 11, as stated, may be a conventional grinder having a hopper 16into which cheese trimmings 17 are placed, there being an opening 18 inthe hopper to permit entry of the cheese trimmings into the grinder. Thegrinder has a body 19 which may include an electric motor, a base 20 anda tubular part 21. Referring now to FIG. 3 the tubular part 21 providesan axial passage 25 in which a shaft 26 is coaxially mounted, such shafthaving affixed to it a helical feed member or auger 27 of standarddesign. At its rear end (not shown) the shaft 26 and auger 27 aresuitably mounted by bearing means (not shown) for support and rotation.At its outer end the shaft is reduced in diameter to form a hub 26a overwhich a perforated plate 28 is fitted and butted against the annularface 29 of the shaft at the base of the hub. A multiple (e.g., four)bladed knife 30 is locked between the plate 28 and annular face 29. Theplate 28 has holes 31 therein which typically have a diameter of /8 to3/ 16 inch. The plate 28 is locked against rotation by projections onthe tube 21 (one of which is shown at 32) which are seated incorresponding notches in the plate 28. An outer hub 33 is screwed ontothe end of tube 21 and it has an axial opening 34 which is smaller indiameter than the tubular passage 25 and plate, such that it holds theplate against the shaft 26 against longitudinal displacement. The plate28 is of stainless steel and the shaft 26 of cast iron constructionwhereby the shaft 26 rotates freely on the plate; hence a specialbearing is not required.

As thus far described grinder 11 is conventional. Other, preferablyhelical or auger type grinders may be used although any other type offeed equipment may be employed which is capable of forcing cheesetrimmings through holes in plate 28 and thereby extruding the cheese inrod-like fonn. The multi-bladed knife 30 is useful in that it slices thecheese and force it through holes 31 in rod-like form. The cheesetrimmings are consolidated to some extent by reason of their passagethrough the grinder 21 under the action of the auger 27 and knife 30 andextrusion through holes 29.

The mold element 12 is bolted onto the front face of hub 33 by bolts 35.The mold element is preferably of fairly heavy metal construction, e.g.,steel or cast iron although other metals and non-metallic materials maybe used. A suitable wall thickness is about A to inch. As will be seenthe internal cavity of the mold element 12 tapers from its inlet endadjacent the grinder to its outlet end. At its inlet end at 46, thiscavity is preferably circular and approximately the same internaldiameter as the tubular member 21 of the grinder .and of the adapter hub33. Forwardly, or to the left as viewed in FIG. 3, this cavity tapersrather steeply and its outer end, at 48, is rectangular in shape (seeFIGS. 1 and 2). The shape and dimensions of the outlet opening 48 aresuch as to produce an end product having the shape and dimensionsdesired in cross section. For example if it is desired to produce cheesein cylindrical form the opening 48 will be round but if his intendedthat the cheese be rectangular in cross section the outlet opening 48will be rectangular as shown. The internal wall of the mold element ispreferably lined with a heat resistant plastic material 47 havingsuitable lubricating qualities. A suitable lining material is Teflonwhich is a trademark of E. I. du Pont de Nemours Co. forpolytetrafluoroethylene. Teflon is desirable not only because of itsheat resistance but because of its inherent lubricity and lowcoefficient of friction. The outlet end 48 of the mold element 12 isshown with a flange 49 upon which the element may rest when his detachedfrom the grinder and is in storage.

Externally the mold element 12 is provided with a cover 55 whichincludes a resistance winding 56 having a cord 57 and a plug 58 wherebyelectric current can be passed through the winding for heating in themanner and for the purpose described below. An asbestos wrapper 59 isprovided externally of the resistance winding and an outermost layer orcover 60 of fiberglass is also provided. The resistance winding 56 maybe a conventional heating element; the asbestos layer 59 functions toconserve heat and to prevent the surface from becoming hot to the touchand the function of the fiberglass outer cover is to provide re--sistance to abrasion and other destructive forces.

' In use cheese trimmings as shown at 17 are supplied to the hopper 16as fast as they are processed by the grinder 11. The production speed isdetermined by the speed at which the grinder is operated and by itscapacity. The cheese trimmings enter the grinder through opening 18 andare forced along the tube 21 by the helical feed 27 and are compactedsomewhat in the process. The cheese is then extruded through the holes31 in the plate 28 into the mold element 12. The taper given to the moldelement 12 causes the body of cheese entering the element to becompacted more and more as it proceeds from right to left as viewed inFIG. 3. As a result the cheese is completely compacted so that when itis cut the surface of the cheese revealed by the cut is solid, islacking or substantially lacking in the holes or voids and is in allsubstantial respects identical with the original bulk cheese.

An important feature of the invention is the self lubricating, lowcoefficient of friction lining 47 which reduces friction, drag andjamming. Another important feature is the provision of heat which actsto bring out a small amount of oil from the cheese and/or to liquefy orsemi-liquefy the surface of the cheese so that a self lubricatingfunction is achieved. This avoids the necessity of lubrication by addinga lubricant which is impractical because of the need to replenish it. Bythe construction and mode of operation described, a process of selflubrication is provided which is quite adequate for the purpose andwhich avoids the need for and the disadvantages of an added lubricant.

As stated above, the compacted, reconsolidated cheese is extruded fromthe outlet opening 48 of the mold element 12 in rectangular form (ifthat is the shape 'desired), the shape and dimensions being as desired.This cheese is delivered to a suitable conveyor or support such as theconveyor 13 having rollers 61 supported on a frame and legs 62. A simplecutter 14 is provided which includes a thin wire 63 attached at itsopposite ends to handles 64 by which as shown in FIG. 2, the cheese canbe sliced. This can be done in a continuous operation to produce aproduct which is shown in packaged form at 15.

It will therefore be'apparent that a novel and advantageous apparatusand a novel and advantageous method of reconsolidating andreconstituting bulk cheese from cheese trimmings is provided. Theapparatus and method are applicable to cheese, cheese products such asmixtures of cheese and sausage; and other food products generally whichare similar in consistency to cheese. The cheese may be soft or hard aslong as it is a cheese which can be provided in solid bulk form and cutinto shaped blocks.

I claim:

l. A cheese molding apparatus capable of consolidating and moldingtrimmings of solid cheese into a consolidated block, said apparatuscomprising:

. a. a feed device having an inlet and an outlet and a driven helicalfeed auger for advancing cheese trimmings from the inlet to the outletand forcing the cheese through the outlet; a molding device having aninlet end communicating with the outlet of the feed device, having anoutlet end remote from the outlet of the feed device and having apassage between said inlet and outlet ends such passage beingenclosed bya wall and being inwardly tapered in cross section from the inlet to theoutlet end so as to compress cheese passing therethrough and to mold itintothe form of a block in cross section;

perforated plate means between thefeed device outlet and the moldingdevice inlet; and

d. heating means for heating of the wall of such resulting from thecutting of large blocks of solid cheese into smaller blocks, said methodbeing operable to compress and mold such trimmings into blocks of cheesehaving a uniform cross section and substantially duplicating the textureand integrity of the original large blocks of cheese, said methodcomprising:

a. providing communicating feeding and molding devices each with its owninlet and outlet and with the feed device outlet communicating with themolding device inlet through perforated plate means, said feeding devicehaving a driven helical feed auger and said molding device having anoutlet of smaller area than the inlet together with a communicatingpassage therebetween which tapers inwardly in cross section from themold inlet to the outlet thereof, and

b. continuously forming the cheese trimmings into a consolidated shapecorrespondingin cross section to that of the moldingdevice outlet byinitially 6 the plate means through said passage while applying heat tothe wall thereof to supply lubrication as provided by the heated cheese,thereby causing the desired cheese product to be continuously extrudedout the mold outlet in block form ready for cutting.

1. A cheese molding apparatus capable of consolidating and moldingtrimmings of solid cheese into a consolidated block, said apparatuscomprising: a. a feed device having an inlet and an outlet and a drivenhelical feed auger for advancing cheese trimmings from the inlet to theoutlet and forcing the cheese through the outlet; b. a molding devicehaving an inlet end communicating with the outlet of the feed device,having an outlet end remote from the outlet of the feed device andhaving a passage between said inlet and outlet ends, such passage beingenclosed by a wall and being inwardly tapered in cross section from theinlet to the outlet end so as to compress cheese passing therethroughand to mold it into the form of a block in cross section; c. perforatedplate means between the feed device outlet and the molding device inlet;and d. heating means for heating of the wall of such passage.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the wall of said passage is lined with aself-lubricating lining.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said liningis Teflon.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the heating means is anelectrical heating means.
 5. A method of reconstituting cheese trimmingsresulting from the cutting of large blocks of solid cheese into smallerblocks, said method being operable to compress and mold such trimmingsinto blocks of cheese having a uniform cross section and substantiallyduplicating the texture and integrity of the original large blocks ofcheese, said method comprising: a. providing communicating feeding andmolding devices each with its own inlet and outlet and with the feeddevice outlet communicating with the molding device inlet throughperforated plate means, said feeding device having a driven helical feedauger and said molding device having an outlet of smaller area than theinlet together with a communicating passage therebetween which tapersinwardly in cross section from the mold inlet to the outlet thereof, andb. continuously forming the cheese trimmings into a consolidated shapecorresponding in cross section to that of the molding device outlet byinitially consolidating the trimmings with the driven auger as they areadvanced thereby to the perforated plate means, further consolidatingthe cheese material under the forcing action of the auger by extrudingthe cheese through the perforated plate means, and finally completingthe consolidation process within the molding device by continuing saidforcing action so as to pass the cheese from the plate means throughsaid passage while applying heat to the wall thereof to supplylubrication as provided by the heated cheese, thereby causing thedesired cheese product to be continuously extruded out the mold outletin block form ready for cutting.